Touch the past
Bandon History Museum
Open Daily June – September
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
270 Fillmore Ave., Bandon
Admission $3, children 12 and younger free
Bandon’s History Museum is a treasure trove for history enthusiasts, with exhibits illustrating early life on the Southern Oregon Coast.
Browse historic images and artifacts from local farming and food production, forestry, fishing and maritime history. Museum staff and volunteers refresh displays seasonally. The annual Cranberry Festival exhibit highlights generations of festival court members, and their fashionable regalia, with the festival’s promotional memorabilia. Winter holiday displays create a playful winter wonderland.
Watch for special events featuring local and visiting historians. The museum is located at the northerly end of Old Town, on the northbound side of Hwy. 101.
Sunday admission is free through the summer of 2018, sponsored by Best Western Inn at Face Rock and First Interstate Bank. Check the bandon.com event calendar, or visit the historical society website for more information, including winter hours, bandonhistoricalmuseum.org.
Linger in Old Town
Alive After Five
Third Fridays, June – October
5 to 8 p.m.
Old Town Bandon
Admission $10, includes souvenir glass and walking map
Spend the evening with Bandon merchants in the monthly Alive After Five Wine Walk. Discover what’s new in Old Town as you enjoy refreshments, conversation, art and live music.
Walks begin at reception areas in Old Town. Pick up souvenir wine glasses and walking maps. Then, tour shops, galleries and restaurants. The cost is $10, payable by cash or credit card. Events are scheduled the third Friday of the month, June through October, plus holiday events in July, November and December.
Alive After Five is a Greater Bandon Association project. Check the bandon.com event calendar for reception locations and monthly event details.
Wander the waterfront
Port of Bandon Boardwalk Art Show
Memorial Day – mid September
1st St. SE, Bandon
Free outdoor art exhibit
Choosing a favorite will be a challenge for visitors to the 2018 Port of Bandon Boardwalk Art Show. Audiences say this summer’s show may be the best yet, noted curators Ava Richey and Shawn Tempesta.
The public call to artists invited submissions on the 2018 theme Salmon Dreams, Marshes and Streams. The works reveal inventive depictions of salmon and water habitat with unexpected use of media. Tempesta describes many of the submissions as fine art.
People’s Choice ballots are available for free at Bandon Bait and Tackle, 110 First St. SE. Choose up to three art pieces, in youth and adult categories, one ballot per person. Voting is open through Wednesday, September 5.
Works are displayed on the boardwalk railing and inside the picnic shelter on First St. in Old Town Bandon. The show is presented by the Port of Bandon and sponsored by the Bandon Professional Center with grant support from the Coquille Tribal Community Fund.
Enjoy the show
Bandon Showcase Performance Series
October 2018 – May 2019
Sprague Community Theater
1202 11th ST SW, Bandon
Plan an evening with Bandon Showcase. The 2018-19 performance series kicks off this fall with award-winning bluegrass artist Molly Tuttle and her band. The season continues through spring, featuring a contemporary line-up with world music duo Seffarine, jazz vocalist Halie Loren, R&B singer-songwriter Luke McMaster, and folk rock trio The Sweet Remains.
Showcase audiences are entertained and enriched. At the Sprague Community Theater, performers enjoy a small-town welcome, and music fans say there’s no bad seat in the house. Treat yourself to complimentary wine and desserts during the intermission mixer.
Individual concert tickets and season tickets available. Visit bandonshowcase.org for details.
Article by Geneva Miller. Photos by Geneva Miller (boardwalk, history museum) and Kaitlyn Raitz (Molly Tuttle).